Indian state-run telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has put on hold its plan to acquire a stake in Kuwaiti mobile telephone operator Zain, BSNL chairman Kuldeep Goyal said on Wednesday.

Shares in Zain, the largest listed company on the Kuwait bourse by market capitalisation, were down 4.1 per cent at 0853 GMT, as the news added to the uncertainty surrounding Zain's stake sale.

'The plan is on hold,' Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference.

BSNL and state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have been considering partnering India's little-known Vavasi Group and Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary to acquire a 46 per cent stake in Zain.

Goyal said BSNL took the decision because Vavasi did not respond to certain specific information sought by the Indian firm.-Reuters